Cuffed and Cursed
by dragonheartt
Summary: Prompt: Danny handcuffs an arguing Becker and Connor. The normal ARC craziness ensues. Post S5.
1. Chapter 1

AN: For a Prompt on tumblr: Becker and Connor have a big fight, and Danny gets fed up. He handcuffs them together until they make up.

so... I'm a conby shipper, but this prompt's sort of more connor/becker, so my mind kind of decided, at least vaguely, that it was abby/connor/becker. I only vaguely point out any relationships at all, so you can just take this without any shipping at all whatsoever, or any which way... I think... yeah, you could say there's only a brotp ship if you'd like, or whatever :)

* * *

Danny was aware of a distinctly cold mood to the ARC when he arrived for work that morning. He wasn't sure what was up, and it definitely wasn't just heating problems in the building, because it wasn't a physical sort of chill...

The ARC was much quieter than usual, more like how it had been during his last return to the ARC through the anomalies.

This time he was staying, and he didn't have to put up with this. Irritated, Danny looked to the ADD. Jess was there; she was always on the quieter side when she was focusing on her work, and he left her to it.

* * *

He found Abby in the menagerie, and confronted her about Connor.

"Everything's fine, Danny." She answered him, but he could tell she wasn't being truthful.

"Right, and 'm a monkey's uncle." She chuckled. "Is it Becker?"

Her small grin dropped, and she sighed.

"Yeah. They had a fight. I tried to get them to talk, but they wont even tell me what it was about!" Abby exclaimed.

"I... have a plan, I think. Y' want in?" Danny was surprised when Abby shook her head.

"Normally, I'd say yes, but just this once I think I'd better leave you to it. Plus, they can't get angry at me if this falls through!" She said with a short laugh. He grinned.

"Right, then I'll be headin' off."

* * *

Connor was in the basement, looking over the circuitry kept down there. He'd come in this morning in a terrible mood, and then the system kept telling Jess that there was something wrong. He'd gone down here to find the panel sparking like crazy, and had shocked his hand once already.

"Connor."

The ARC's genius jumped in surprise, looking over his shoulder crossly at Danny.

"Would you not do that, Danny?! Y' nearly made me electrocute meself!"

Danny waved his hand, dismissing it.

"Sorry, but there's a problem topside."

Connor asked Danny what it was, but the ex-copper only smiled vaguely and repeated that it was important. Connor reluctantly followed his friend.

At least until he realized they were headed to the armoury.

Where Becker surely was, at this time of day.

"The problem 's in the armoury?" Connor squeaked, looking around for an escape route.

"Yeah. What's the problem, Connor? Anything wrong?"

"Huh? Wrong? No, nothin's wrong at all!" His voice slipped an octave. He was so nervous that his earlier bad mood was fading away, but he knew that Becker's surely was not.

And, Connor was still a little annoyed with Becker over the fight, anyway. He did not want to go in there and face him.

* * *

Becker grumbled under his breath as he polished the gun again, before carefully placing the weapon back in its box and putting it away on a shelf. He took a step back and nodded to himself. He'd polished the weapons that needed it; the EMD's, apart from the main one he himself used, could be polished by the soldiers later.

It was almost time for a security sweep, and he was reaching up to the coms when he heard movement from the corridor outside the armoury.

"Danny, I just think that Becker's probably way too busy right now- maybe I should come back later-"

Connor stared at Becker. Becker stared at Connor.

Within about five minutes they were yelling again, what about, Danny still wasn't quite sure, even though he was standing right there.

Now, this wasn't going to plan! They weren't cooperating! Phase two, then.

Not that there was anything wrong with phase two, in his opinion at least.

*click!* *click*

The handcuffs were attached to Becker's left hand and Connor's right hand.

"Danny!"

"Quinn!"

Danny chuckled.

"Now, you two, stop fightin'. When you make up, I'll unlock 'em. Now, I have some work to do- oh and, best hope there're no anomaly calls between now'n when you make up, otherwise the shout could be really difficult..." Danny shot as a parting remarck, darting out of the room before either of the two men could grab at him.

Becker and Connor stared at each other, dumbfounded.

"Now what?" Connor said, looking away.

"Conn..."

"Becks..."

They chuckled uneasily.

"C'n you imagine an anomaly shout with us like this, Becks?" Connor attempted humor, and Becker chuckled a little.

"bit of an acrobatic feat, it'd be." Becker commented, shaking his hand so the cuffs clinked against the chain connecting his wrist to Connor's.

* * *

TBC...

AN: I've just discovered that a connor/becker ship could be called "becon"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: so… I'm shaky on writing most characters other than connor.. xD but i gave this chapter a go :3 sorry if this chapter's short! :v

* * *

They were smiling at each other and chuckling, and Connor was hopeful. He didn't want to fight with Becker, but he felt he wasn't in the wrong on this, and he'd defend his point of view. But he was hopeful that they wouldn't need to tlak about it, that they were fine and could go on like the fight hadn't happened…

But Becker's smile faded after a moment and he looked away, frowning at the doorway as if Danny was still standing there. Which, of course, he wasn't.

"We need to find Quinn. This is unacceptable." Connor winced, and Becker seemed to catch it, because he hastily amended, "Quinn's behavior is unacceptable. I understand his intentions, but this won't solve anything." Becker said, shaking his wrist so the cuffs clinked against each other. Connor gestured towards the door with one hand- he remembered in time to use the one _not_ handcuffed to Becker's wrist.

"Maybe we should—" Becker nodded, and started walking, leaving Connor to yelp and attempt to keep up. "Hey! Slow down, yeah, Becks?"

"Sorry."

Connor wished that the 'sorry' was about the fight, despite the unlikliness of that.

* * *

They made it to the Hub before anyone noticed that they were handcuffed, and Becker glared at the SF's who snickered. Connor felt his cheeks grow warmer, but did his best to ignore it. Matt was entering the room, heading to Jess and the ADD, when he glanced at the captain and geek.

"Jess, no alerts?" Matt said, putting a hand on the back of the field coordinator's chair and looking at the screens. Becker was looking around for Danny, eyes narrowed, while Connor leaned against the wall and tried to listen in to Matt and Jess' conversation.

"Nope, not a single blip on the ADD."

"Well, let's not jinx it. I've got plans with Emily for this evening." Matt sounded really pleased with himself, though as usual it was hard to tell any emotion in his voice at all. Connor couldn't help a small chuckle, which made Becker look at him, brow raised.

"Ah, Matt's going on a date with Emily tonight." Connor explained.

"Why is that funny?"

"Because it's rare that he sounds so…" Connor searched for the right word. Before he could, Matt had noticed them, and headed over. Connor was right, Becker conceded, there was a certain bounce to their team Leader's step that wasn't usually there.

"Captain, Connor. Have you seen…" They didn't get to hear who he was asking for, as Matt raised his eyebrows, noticing the handcuffs. Rather than continue to try to hide them - which would just make Matt smirk more than he already was - Becker cut off Connor's lightning-fast stammer.

"Quinn decided we needed to be cuffed to sort out an… issue."

"I see. Well, you'd best solve it then, boys."

"Yeah, we really wouldn't want an anomaly with us like this!" Connor put in, then slapped his free hand over his mouth, lookign at the ADD as if he expected it to start beeping then and there.

Becker shot Connor a glare that would've been a lot more intimidating if the corners of his lips weren't lifting in a smile. Connor moved his hand from his mouth and shrugged helplessly.

"I'm going to go check on Abby in the menagerie, give you two some space…" Matt said, chuckling, as he turned to walk away.

"Wait, Matt!" Connor called, waiting until he'd turned around. "We're wonderin' if you'd seen Danny…?"

"Unfortunately not - I was going to ask you lot, but I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Probably testing security again."

Becker looked beyond irritated with Danny, so Connor smiled at Matt.

"Thanks anyway. If you do find him, can you try and convince him… y'know…?" Connor gestured at the cuffs, making a face when Matt smirked.

"I make no promises, Connor." The Irishman told him, leaving the Hub. Becker had gone back to glarign at the SF's, though after a moment he looked at Connor, who bit his lip.

"So…"

"We need to find Danny. Being handcuffed to you is a hindrance." Becker didn't seem to notice Connor's flinch, or notice the way his eyes dulled and his shoulders slumped. Of course. He'd thought- both Becker and Abby, and in fact the rest of the team, had told him- that he was a valued member of the Team, that they didn't blame him for the Burton fiasco, that he was important. But he should have known it wasn't really so. He was still a hindrance, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He wondered why he'd decided to challenge Becker about.. well, about the thing they were fighting about, that he was determinedly not thinking about! He should just apologize for fighting, and surely Danny was listening, so he'd appear out of some vent somewhere and unlock them, and Connor could stop being a hindrance to Becker.

At least for a little while.

* * *

AN: Sorry, I like angst? xv


	3. Chapter 3

AN: This chapter gives just a small bit of what it might be about.. sorry. I promise the next chapter will have it, but it didn't fit right in this one ^^' For _reasons_ ;3

* * *

"Well, where do you suggest we look?" Connor said with false brightness, and took a step, forcing his shoulders to straighten and a smile to his

face. He didn't want false sympathy, so hiding the hurt was the best… no, the only option. Becker turned to look at him, a single brow raised and a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"I think we should ask Jess." Becker said, inclining his head towards their field coordinator. Connor caught on quickly enough.

"I can't believe we didn't think of the security cameras sooner." He commented, nodding. They walked over, watching politely for Jess to finish whatever it was that made her fingers fly across the keys.

After a moment, she looked up at them, smiling.

"CCTV?"

"Yes, please."

"It'll cost you a chocolate bar." Jess said, grinning. Connor leaned around to look at the second screen of the ADD.

"Nothing-" Becker began his usual reply with a grin.

"-With orange in it, we know Becks!" Connor almost snapped, to the surprise of the other two. He glanced at Jess, wincing. "Sorry, Jess. It's just,

I… we really need to find Danny ASAP, yeah? Bit antsy." He apologized, waiting until she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Boys." She said it in a long-suffering sort of way, which made both of the men chuckle despite themselves. Thankfully, she turned to the ADD and pulled up the camera footage.

* * *

Jess had found Danny lurking in the break room, though after Quinn walked around the room once and poured himself a cup of coffee, he glanced up at the security camera, and winked. Becker actually growled, startling Connor, who was trying to type one-handed while Jess halfheartedly tried to regain control of the ADD from him.

"C'mon, let's head to the break room."

"But Becker-" Connor ground his teeth as Becker ignored him, and started walking, forcing him to follow or be dragged by his wrist. "Becks! By the time we get there, he'll be long gone!"

"I know, but maybe we can head him off…"

"If we weren't handcuffed this would be easier." Connor muttered.

"Well, it would mean that we could go down different hallways and corner Quinn." Becker pointed out, brows furrowed as he turned to face Connor. For his part, the techy genius hadn't considered that Becker might not mind the handcuffing part because it was with connor, but because it was more difficult to do things when your hand was linked to someone else's. "Is something wrong, Conn?"

Connor's eyes widened, and then he shook his head sharply, turning away.

"Later, later. Danny's probably halfway across the building by now!" Connor switched topics, starting to walk. Becker immediately fell into step, easily keeping pace.

* * *

Danny wormed his way through the air vents above Connor and Becker, peering down at the two through the grating. He let out a quiet sigh. He'd hoped his plan would work. Maybe he would've done better to lock them in one of the empty menagerie pens…. He shook his head. Becker would murder him, possibly for real, if he did that.

Danny resolved to stay hidden for as long as possible: they would have to discuss the fight eventually.

* * *

"He's not in here, Becker." Connor grumbled, sighing as Becker shook his head and practically stalked towards the cabinets on the other end of the room. "There's no way Danny could keep quiet for this long, anyway." He added, making a face when Becker didn't reply. "Becks, he probably snuck out long before we got here. The ARC's pretty round abou', he could be anywhere by now."

The Captain finally turned to face him, eyebrows raised.

"And what do you suggest we do?"

"What?! I'm suddenly the one who makes the decisions?"

"Conn, you know Danny better than I do."

"So it's not because you finally think I'm useful?" Connor couldn't stop himself from blurting. Becker opened his mouth to respond, and Connor turned away, glaring at the cuff rather than meeting Becker's eyes. "Nevermind, we… we're not getting into this again, yeah?"

"Connor…"

"I mean, you said to drop it, so it's dropped, been dropped all day, yep."

"Connor!" Becker shouted, his shoulder and forcing Connor to look at him again.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry 'bout the long wait! Hope this chapter lives up to expectations... :) :v

So I've been trying to keep shippy-ness purposefully vague, because in my head it's sort of abc but it could be conby or becon or brotp connor and becker or any number of other ships. This chapter decided to edge more towards becon or abc, but despite allusions to Abby being pregnant and insinuations that Becker *cares* for Connor, I think I managed to keep it without any real shippyness. Apart from this AN. Anyways, take it as you will :3 Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_"Connor!" Becker shouted, grabbing his shoulder and forcing Connor to look at him again._

* * *

They stared at each other for a moment before Becker shook his shoulder lightly.

"Connor," he began, but then realized he wasn't at all sure what he intended to say, "I didn't... Why did you think I was so against you rejoining the field team?" Connor looked away, and Becker could feel the tension through his light grip on Connor's shoulder.

"It's not hard ta figure out, Becker. I've 'eard it enough, gotten enough flak for bein' the one who nearly ended the world an' all, and for other things too. I hoped I wouldn't get it from you, but I'm no' fit for the field team, am I? You an' the others'll be 'appier if I'm not out there, gettin' in the way..." Becker was barely able to let Connor finish his self-derogatory speech, and his grip tightened fractionally.

"Conn, that's not true, none of it. If any of my men have been 'giving you flak' about the New Dawn incident, you should know you can come to me and I'll tell them off." Connor shook his head.

"I don't need to be coddled, Becker." He said tonelessly, then gestured at the hallway. "We should really find Danny."

"I'm _not_ coddling you, Connor." Well, maybe he was being a tad overprotective but, "I care about you, and you'll notice that I haven't let Abby back on the field team either. You two are too important to be constantly in danger, and you're not always in the way! You just have a tendency to act on what your heart tells you, which more often than not gets you into danger. And I'd prefer it if you didn't nearly cause me heart failure every anomaly shout." Becker explained, watching as Connor's eyes widened in surprise. He gaped at Becker for a moment, and then the expressive brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. That was something he would always hate Phillip for. Before, Connor had implicitly trusted people. Now, he tended towards not believing them, and erring on the side of caution, which, while sometimes better for Connor's safety, was also somewhat heartrending.

Connor wasn't acting like _Connor. _

"You were... trying to protect me?" His tone was skeptical, but hopeful, and Becker nodded.

"Even if you can take care of yourself, because I know you can, right now I'd rather both you and Abby were safe." It was hard to admit a lot of personal things in their work environment, though he wasn't often one to speak his mind about 'feelings' anyway. Still, Becker cared for both Abby and Connor, and with recent events neither of them could really be spared.

"Oh." Connor blinked a few times, and then a small smile formed.

* * *

TBC

AN2: I am considering an anomaly call actually. hehehe. It''s not over till... erm... hmmm... till Lester sings. Yup, that's what I'm going with. Joking, obviously. We'll see what happens next chapter ^^'


	5. Chapter 5

Connor stared at Becker for a long moment, lips pursed slightly as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't get the words to form. Becker let go of Connor's shoulder, and smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression, Connor. I'm not very good at saying what I mean, it would seem." He admitted. Connor shook his head, eyes brighter now.

"No worse 'n me. I should've trusted you, Becks." He cleared his throat. "Why don't we go find Danny, now?" Connor still felt a little niggle of doubt in the back of his mind, but it would never truly go away. He accepted that, but would prefer to move on from this as quickly as possible. Before Becker could ask if he would agree to staying out of the field.

Of course, Becker and he often thought alike, and Connor could almost see the question forming.

"Not now, later. We've gotta get these cuffs off b'fore, y'know..." They both paused, listening unnecesarily carefully for the sound of the ADD. They both sighed in relief when nothing happened, and then laughed.

"Right."

* * *

Danny grinned from where he hid, though he was almost tempted to bribe Jess into sending Becker and Connor on a wild goose chase while they were still handcuffed. Actually... that was a really good idea. The ex copper snickered and wriggled his way through the vent system towards the Hub.

* * *

Becker and Connor weren't sure where to start now, unsure which way to go. Danny had been seen in the break room twenty minutes ago, and he could've gone anywhere.

"Oh! Becker, this way!"

"What?! Did you see him?!"

"No, but I thought of somethin'! We 'ave ta get to me lab first, then I'll explain." Now that the argument was more or less forgotten - and Becker wasn't sure if it was an act or if Connor had truly forgiven him that quickly. He was going to bring it back up, but later, not right now. He nodded, and Connor took off at a run. Becker was careful to start movign at the same time so that neither of them would be tugged along by their wrist.

* * *

"So, what's in your lab, Conn, that's so important?" Becker asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot as Connor moved stacks of papers and piles of tools and bits of wiring.

"Just somethin' I was messin' with... here we go!" He found the device, which looked like a whole mess of odds and ends thrown together haphazardly.

"What does it do?" Connor couldn't help but bristle slightly at the almost-patronizing tone in Becker's voice... until he realized that it was actually geniune curiosity... something he still wasn't used to, even now.

"It's a modified bit of equipment. Standard features of the heat sensetive night vision goggles, only the tech's relayed back into my little machine 'ere, which basically goes ding when it picks up sings of life. I figured it'd be pretty bloody useful in case we end up in another tight spot or whatnot. It's only a prototype for now, but it is workable. I figure we can turn this baby on, and scan a couple o' hallways 'n air ducts, an' we'll find Danny in short order." Connor said, grinning in his enthusiasm.

Becker smiled.

"Definitely sounds like a good plan. Okay, let's do this."

* * *

Danny scrambled through the small space near Connor's lab, hoping that the whiz kid wouldn't turn the machine on right at that moment... because if he did, Danny would be found. He'd been unable to resist the detour to spy on Becker and Connor, but it would probably be a good idea to get to Jess and see if his plan would work, before he was faced with an irritated Becker.

* * *

Abby left the menagerie and headed to the breakroom, waving at Jess and Lester, the latter of which did not wave back, but she did see him smile. Rex chirped and swooped in, landing on her shoulder. He was the only creature allowed full access of the ARC, because it made more sense, and he was much happier and healthier around Abby than not.

She wondered absently, as she scratched him gently under the chin and strolled easily to the break room, what Danny's "plan" actually was. She'd said she didn't want to know, and she stood by that... but she was honestly a tad curious.

She touched her mobile in her pocket, biting her lip as she considered whether to call Connor or not. Her stomach growled, and she was reminded of hwo long it had been since breakfast, and decided to let the boys deal with their issues aloen for now.

* * *

TBC: Danny is mischievous XD


End file.
